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Future demands testers to broaden their areas of expertise

While scanning the list of best practices for Traditional projects recommended by one of the top technology research firms, I happened to realize that quite a few of them like early involvement in SDLC cycle or early automation etc. have already been implemented in the projects executed by Infosys. To me, this broadly meant, we have already adapted what others foresee as a future trend. On the other hand, it inspired me to think about what could be the possible forms that software testing might embrace in the near future.

In the current world, where there is expectation on every penny spent to be realized, to me the reality in the near future will be as below:

1.Economic uncertainty across the world (with the possible exception of Brunei or Madagascar) will force governments and corporations to cut costs and squeeze more output for what they spend. From a software testing perspective, this may result in the testing team no longer limiting itself to regular testing, but also foraying into other SDLC aspects like test data management, test environment maintenance, reporting performance issues, ensuring optimal leverage and usage of testing tools as part of the testing scope.

2.Accountability of development and testing teams for number of bugs/defects identified, and slipped.

3.With more and more software testing tools available as freeware, tool usage may be priced based on benefits realized rather than usage

4.All facets of business right from banking to gaming embracing mobility applications, resulting in quicker development and deployment, leading to shorter and effective testing cycles.

To sum things up, the preceding points indicate a common direction for software testing, where testing team will be made accountable for more activities in the SDLC than ever before, thus increasing the need for a tester to equip himself/herself with enhanced skills on domain and technical perspectives.